Ryan Gosling must be thankful to not have been at Cannes Film Festival this past week, where his newest film Only God Forgives was met with boos.
The film, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, is a noir about an owner of a boxing club who is pressured by his mother to avenge the murder of his brother. Gosling, who stars in the film, was unable to attend the screening at Cannes because he is currently filming in Detroit.
To apologize for his absence, Gosling wrote a note that was read aloud at a press conference. According to Vanity Fair the notes reads, ““Can’t believe I’m not In Cannes. . .I was hoping to come but I’m on week three shooting my film in Detroit. Miss you all. Nicolas, my friend, we really are the same persons in different dimensions. I’m sending you good vibrations.”
Apparently “good vibrations” were not enough to combat the mixed reviews given to Only God Forgives . The film received boos from some critics, some of which zeroed in on Gosling’s performance, calling him completely void of emotion throughout the film.
ABC News reports that it is Kristin Scott Thomas’ performance as Gosling’s mother that steals the show. Some critics are crying out for an Oscar nomination for the actress.
Refn also gave Scott Thomas accolades, saying that as the film gets darker and darker, “she would be so dominating that you could never live up to her, you could never penetrate her."
Scott Thomas said that her performance, while garnering lots of attention, exhausted her. “I’m going to do a comedy next,” the actress said.
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